Chikankata toddler drowns in well

A two-year-old girl has drowned in a well in Chikankata District.

James Sikede of Turnpike Police Station confirmed the death of the girl to ZANIS today.

Sgt Sikede said the incident happened yesterday around 09:40 hours.

He identified the deceased as Rose Kambule of Mwanamainda area in Chikankata District who passed away yesterday after her mother left her in search of a relative.

Sgt Sikede said the mother, identified as Lizzie Kwalombota, whose age is not known, left the girl with friends in order to search for a relative at a nearby house.

“I only left the child for a few minutes with the rest of the children at my mother’s house. By the time I came back, I was told that they had gone to play at a nearby house with her cousins.

“After a while someone came to call me and said I go and identify a body only to find it was my daughter,” she explained.

Ms Kwalombota explained that the body was found floating by a man who went to the well to draw.

The body is lying at the parents’ home awaiting burial.

Father of the deceased, James Kambule, explained that this is the second time that such an incident is happening in the district.

“The community suffered the same ordeal last year when twins drowned and died on the same day,” he said.

He appealed to the government to provide more water facilities such as boreholes in order for the community to have improved access to clean water and improved sanitation in order to avoid deaths by drowning.

He said now that Chikankata is a district the community must have access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation.